(Un)fortunate crash
by ezejo-p
Summary: The Garuru Platoon has to make an emergency landing in Pekopon, and ends up in a really tiny country in Europe... What can I say? The food here in Portugal is great.
1. Prologue

"Ahhhhhh, going to Pekopon is like being on vacations... I can't believe the Keroro Platoon is having so much trouble invanding the planet." Private First Class Taruru said, folding his arms behind is head and his legs on top of the partition between his seat and Recruit Tororo's. The tadpole, feeling the blue Keronian's feet invading his personal space, shoved them off.

"With such incompetent people like Sargeant Major Kururu, no wonder pu pu."

"Incompetent? I thought you were the one that still hadn't won-"

"Don't talk about that!"

Their argument went on for a few more seconds, until a calm, but strong and stern voice spoke.

"Private Taruru, Recruit Tororo, I'm sure we all would appreciate it if you could be quiet for a few moments. I thought you both were tired from the last mission." After listening to the Lieutenant's voice both frogs quickly moved away from each other. Taruru looked bored and Tororo relieved that he could finally dedicate himself to do what he was actually good at, if not the best.

...Well, as long as Kururu wasn't concerned, at least.

Truth was that if they didn't stop _immediately,_ the alternative was having a bullet lodged in their brains (or what's left of them, anyway), and Taruru knew that having the Lieutenant completely pissed was something that no one wanted. He only saw him truly mad once - and he promised himself it would be the last. The sight of the _Rifle_ of the Platoon's leader aimed at him was something that he wanted to forget _urgently_.

"It's going to be nice seeing Keroro, Giroro and Dororo-" Chief Medic Pururu started, but was quickly cut off by the Lance Corporal Zoruru.

"Zeroro." He corrected her coldly, which made her sigh.

"Are you going to give anything to your brother, Lieutenant?" She asked her leader, moving her eyes towards him. She continued to clean her needle as she did so, but being distracted she accidentally got the huge thing a bit too close to Tororo, who immediately jumped once he saw the object just a few inches from him.

"Keep that thing away from me!" He yelled, which made Taruru laugh.

"Are you scared of needles, recruit?" He asked tauntingly, poking Tororo's cheek with his index finger.

"Aren't we all scared of _that_ needle?" Zaruru commented, nodding his head towards Pururu's "best friend". Taruru made a face, nodding his head in agreement.

"Well... yeah, even the Lieutenant."

Garuru started at him threateningly, and Taruru immediately regretted his words.

"Come again, Private?"

"N-Nothing, Lieutenant. The starts look nice, don't they?"

There was an awkward silence for a few moments until Tororo cleared his throat, remembering Taruru's words.

"No, I'm not scared of needles, I'm scared of the old woman pu pu."

He sat more comfortably in his seat once he realized the needle wasn't close to his face anymore, but he heard his name being called almost immediately.

"Recruit Tororo, I believe we already had this conversation." The purple space alien spoke, staring at the Chief Medic, who was staring at her face in a mirror with the darkest expression ever and muttering "I'm not old... no, no, not old...". Garuru glared at Tororo, who in return shrugged and got back to what he was doing.

"I'm not going to apologize pu pu."

"Now."

"But it's the truth!"

" _Now._ "

Tororo knew that when the leader's tone of voice got so threateningly in all its calm, it was better not to give any more steps towards "the line". Tororo perfectly knew what happened if someone crossed it, and remembering Taruru's incident, he didn't want to risk it. He certainly didn't want the huge Rifle aimed at him, too... Reluctantly, he swallowed his pride, turning his head towards Pururu's direction, who was furiously cleaning her oh-so-famous needle.

"I'm sorry." Seeing one of the Lieutenant's irises appear under his visor, he quickly rephrased. "I'm _very_ sorry, Chief Medic Pururu. It won't happen again."

It was like he could hear Kururu laughing in front of him, laughing of his submission... The Sargent Major would _never_ let his leader make him apologize for such a tiny thing.

 _Truth is, Sargent Keroro isn't the Lieutenant pu pu. I'm pretty sure not even Recruit Tamama takes him seriously most of the time_. Tororo thought, which made him feel a lot less embarrassed about what happened. Truth is the Chief Medic would end up forgiving him anyway, her being the soft-hearted frog she is, but his apologize made it a lot easier (and faster). The violet Keronian glanced at him, giving him one of her soft smiles, and shrugged. "It's fine". She then turned her head to the Lieutenant, waiting for his answer to her question.

"Yes, I am. I brought some things to every platoon member, actually. Sargent Keroro's father asked my father, who in turn asked me, to deliver something to his son, and seeing that they enjoyed the presents that I brought to them the last time, I thought that it wouldn't be... _too bad_ if I also brought something to Recruit Tamama, Lance Corporal Dororo and Sargent Major Kururu, since I already had something to give to Giroro."

"I hope you didn't bring candy to Tamama, Lieutenant. The last thing I need is having him running after... _unhealthy_ things while I'm trying to check his diabetes."

"The Master has candy everywhere. He's going to be a pain in the..." Seeing the look the Lieutenant gave him, Taruru thought about what he was going to say. "... _butt_ , anyway."

The Chief Medic sighed, and noticing that they were approaching Pokopen, she looked outside the glass. "It's a really beautiful planet." She muttered with a soft smile on her lips, letting her chin rest in her hand. She heard the Lieutenant say they were going to pass through the atmosphere soon, but she was so lost in thought she didn't really pay much attention.

o - o - o - o - o

" _Unbelievable_." Pururu groaned as she sunk her head in her pillow, as if she was trying to repel a bad memory. She turned around, lying on her back, and stared at the ceiling as she put her hands on her temples, rubbing them softly. She realized she needed to take something for her headache, but she was too tired to even bother. She spent a day, _a single day_ with the Keroro Platoon and she got the most horrible headache she had ever experienced. She didn't recall them being so restless and... _annoying_ the last time she had visited them, but truth was her teammates weren't helping. Keroro was so nervous with the fact that Garuru was in the same room as him that he couldn't stop stuttering and talking nonsenses, and Giroro wasn't doing much better. Tororo and Sargent Major Kururu... Well, let's just say the little tadpole wasn't helping Pururu in the slightest, and Taruru was pursuing Tamama, which made the recruit run all around the place, trying to escape the light blue frog. Zoruru and Dororo were able to keep it cool, but the looks the robotic frog was giving the shy ninja were definitely helping the bad environment.

As a consequence, it took the Chief Medic twice the time it would usually take to give all the injections and to see how their health was.

Perhaps she shouldn't be so angry at her teammates, but she couldn't really help it. Taruru could've stayed in a corner quietly, Zoruru could've pretended he wasn't there as he usually does, Tororo could've easily ignored Kururu, and Garuru could've left the room as soon as the Chief Medic told him he wasn't helping. Actually she told them all, but do they ever listen to her?

That's why she has her needle. Now that she thinks about that, she could've blackmailed them.

When they got back to the ship, she didn't even bother to stare at any of them, not even at the Lieutenant. She placed her reports of the Keroro Platoon in the leader's secretary and quickly walked to her room, not wanting to end up having to face any of her colleagues. She started to think that she would probably get into trouble for not saluting her leader, but quickly shook her head in an attempt to turn her thoughts into something else.

 _Maybe they'll understand why I'm like this,_ she thought, closing her eyes. The quietness didn't last for long, however, as she heard a knock on the door a few minutes later. She seriously considered not opening it, but it could be Garuru, and she didn't think that not answering her Leader was a smart move. With that in mind she sighed, walking to the door, and once she opened it, a certain light blue frog appeared in front of her.

"Please don't close the door!" He begged, waving his arms in front of his freckled face. Once he realized the pinkish Keronian wasn't going to do it, he scratched the back of his head as if he was embarrassed about something. "I wanted to... hm... apologize for my behavior down there." He finally said, a red color appearing on his cheeks. He tried to hide it though, and Pururu realized she really couldn't be mad at him for too long. "The Lieutenant was mad because you didn't salute him, but I think he soothed a lot once he started reading your reports. I could see him perusing them in his office. He looked, like, super pleased."

Pururu felt like her cheeks caught fire, and that little observation Taruru made was enough to make her forget she was angry at all.

"R-really? He looked pleased?"

Taruru nodded his head lively, and a huge grin spread across his face.

"Totally! He even-"

Something crashed into the ship, keeping her from hearing what he said next. Both Taruru and Pururu hit the wall violently, and one of her bookshelves missed her for a few inches. For a few seconds everything was quiet, but it wasn't too long before a new impact was felt, making whatever was still on its place get knocked out. It took the nurse a while to stand up, and when she finally did she realized there was a cut on her leg, but nothing too big. She considered treating it, but once she laid her eyes on Taruru, she immediately forgot her injury. She ran towards him, and as soon as she got to him, he started to sit down, his hands making their way towards his head, as if it was hurting him.

"Ouch." He groaned, looking around the room. "What the _frog_ just happened?"

"I have no idea." Pururu said, sitting down next to him to make it easier for her to examine his wounds. He had a few superficial cuts and a few bruises, but nothing too bad. She quickly put some Band-Aids on his scratches and got up, telling him to follow her. "We need to go check on the others."

He nodded, finally standing up and following her along the ship. The pair found Zoruru in the kitchen, but he waved his hand dismissively as he saw Pururu approaching. "I'm fine. Tororo is trying to understand what just happened, but he said one of our engines stopped working. He's trying to fix it, but he said he can't guarantee us anything. We'll probably have to land in Pokopen to take care of ship." He was going to say something else, but the Lieutenant's voice prevented him from doing so.

" _Everybody, get down NOW!_ "

It took them two seconds to obey to his order, but as soon as they did so, an explosion occurred.

The "only" problem was that this time, it was inside of the ship.

It took them a while to understand what just happened, but Pururu didn't wait. She rushed towards the leader's office, and grew a horrified expression once she saw the state of the room, but even worse once she saw Garuru's body.

"Garuru!" She yelled, rushing towards him. She could feel her heart racing, but felt a little better once she saw him moving.

"What... Chief Medic... Are the others okay?" He immediately asked, forgetting all about his injuries. He stood up, but the nurse stopped him from doing anything else.

"Lieutenant, I have to take care of your back. It's all burnt."

"There is no time." He said, starting to move towards de main room.

"But Lieutenant...!"

"There is no time." He repeated, taking his seat. She let out an exasperated sigh as she did the same, and she only remembered that the ship wasn't in its best condition in that moment.

"Recruit Tororo?"

"I don't understand!" He half-yelled, taking them all by surprise. He was clearly frustrated. "The shields were supposed to be up, and there is no way someone entered the ship to plant that bomb in the Lieutenant's office. This doesn't make any sense!" He said, typing something furiously on his keyboard. Pururu and Garuru shared a glance, and she could tell by the look on his face that he had something on his mind.

"What about the engines?"

The tadpole gulped before answering.

"I wasn't able to fix it. The other one is still working, but not for too long... I doubt we can make a safe landing without it failing before we reach the ground." Pururu knew that the little guy was nervous. His hands were shaking and she could clearly see little tears in the corners of his eyes behind his glasses.

"We still have the parachutes, correct?" Garuru asked, his gaze moving towards Taruru. He got up and saluted, answering with a "yes, sir!" before leaving the room. He got back almost immediately with five parachutes, and handed one to each of his teammates.

"Recruit Tororo, I need you to lead the ship into Pokopen. Once we pass the atmosphere, I'm going to need you all to jump." This order made Taruru's eyes widen in horror as he stared at the leader like he had lost his mind.

"Have you lost your mind?! We _all_ need to jump, Lieutenant! Not just the four of us!" He snapped, completely forgetting that he was talking to his superior.

"It is my duty to keep you safe. _All_ of you. Besides, the more time you spend arguing with me, the less we have to get out of here." He simply said, and then moved his gaze to Tororo. "Recruit, you are the youngest. I want you to go first."

"You know what's going on here!" Taruru's sudden outburst startled all of them, but he seemed far too upset to care. "I heard you talking to the HQ; they gave us a mission and ever since that you've had this… this uneasy look on your face. I know the mission is in Pekopon, so I don't understand the reason why you are hiding it from us!"

The Lieutenant glared at him for a few moments before returning to his normal neutral expression.

"Some aliens are invading the planet, and obviously the HQ wants us to take care of it. Most of the creatures are quite unpleasant," He actually had to take a break there, almost as if he didn't know which word to use. "so I wanted us to go back to Keron so we could get ready and get everything we needed." He paused for a moment. "I think that one of this species might have heard our conversation, and is purposely trying to make us crash."

"And successfully." Snapped Zoruru, seemingly annoyed.

"And you didn't think this was useful information?!" Taruru asked his leader, looking him dead in the eye. The Lieutenant was visibly starting to lose his temper.

"Do I have to remind you that you're talking to your superior, _private_?"

"We're about to crash!" He looked terrified and desperate now, waving his arms in front of Garuru's face. "We are probably going to die! I couldn't care less about the fact that you are my superior, _we could've avoided this entire mess if you had been a better leader!_ "

Pururu and Zoruru wanted to shout _You're overreacting!_ , but none of them dared to speak after that argument. Tororo's hands were shaking while he stared at the Lieutenant who, in turn, didn't look mad.

He looked absolutely _pissed_. However, he didn't say anything, turning his head to the orange frog.

Tororo stopped typing on his keyboard as he stared at Garuru, terrified. The ship started passing the Pekoponian atmosphere, and the tadpole knew what that meant.

"But, Lieutenant...!"

" _It's an order, Recruit._ "

The little guy jumped on his seat with the Lieutenant's sudden tone change and grabbed his parachute, his hands shacking. He slowly walked towards the gate that was supposed to open so they could jump and waited for Garuru's orders.

"Open the parachute only a few seconds into the jump. Go when I say."

The gate was opened, and Pururu could see the fear hidden behind his glasses. He wasn't crying, but he surely would be if he wasn't so in shock.

"Now!"

The little tadpole closed his eyes before he jumped.

The Lieutenant then turned to Taruru, who had is arms folded over is chest and a defiant expression on his face. His little show didn't last for long, though.

"Don't give me one more reason to shoot you, private. Believe me when I say that I am trying _very_ hard not to." Warned the Lieutenant, and that seemed to actually work. Taruru probably remembered the Rifle incident, and didn't want it to be the last thing he ever experienced. That being said, he grabbed the parachute, walking towards the open gate.

"I want you to do the same as the Recruit. On my sign."

Taruru took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

"Now!"

He jumped.

Pururu saw Garuru's gaze move towards the Lance Corporal.

"Zoruru."

"No."

The cybernetic frog saw one of the Lieutenant's irises appear under his visor.

 _"I beg your pardon?"_

"Pururu's going first."

The purple Keronian seemed to actually consider that option, but Pururu shook her head violently.

"No. Zoruru is... Zoruru. He needs to go first, Lieutenant." She then turned her head to the Lance Corporal. "Please!"

He seemed uncertain, and Pururu was starting to lose her patience.

"Please, Zoruru!" She begged in despair. "We're running out of time! If you don't hurry the ship will crash with us inside of it!"

The ninja muttered something to himself, grabbing his parachute and walking towards the gate. Before he jumped, though, he stared at the Lieutenant.

"Garuru."

He turned his head in his direction.

"It has been a pleasure."

He saluted, and then jumped.

The Lieutenant finally moved his head towards Pururu.

"Chief Medic."

"You have to promise me you'll make it."

He stood silent for a moment, until he nodded. She didn't seem satisfied, however.

"Say it."

He glared at her for a few seconds until he got back to his normal expression.

"I promise, Pururu."

She didn't know if her heart was racing because of the adrenaline or because of the way her name sounded when said by him, but that really wasn't relevant at the moment. She walked towards the gate, waiting for his order.

"Pururu."

She turned her head to him, her cheeks red.

"Thank you for taking care of us."

She gave him a soft smile.

"I should be the one saying that, Garuru."

An alarm went off, telling them the engine had stopped working.

"Go, now! I'll try to make the ship crash in a more remote area."

"But..."

" _Now_ , Pururu!"

She breathed heavily, closing her eyes as she jumped.

The last thing she remembered was seeing and hearing the ship crash, and not seeing the Lieutenant getting out of there.

o - o - o - o - o

 **~ guess who's back, back again ~**

 **ANYWAY! i suppose i owe you an apology... lots of them, as a matter of fact. so, i hope you can forgive me for simply starting this story and then not going through with it, but i am happy to announce that i will begin working on it again! hence the reason why i'm republishing all of the chapters, because i want to change a few things. this one is pretty much the same, but the others might have a few different things, so... yeah. there's that**

 **english isn't my first language, so I would appreciate it if you could NOT be an ass about it. criticism is always welcome, just don't be rude**

 **as usual, leave a review! i love to know what you guys think**


	2. Shock and First Impressions

**Tokyo, Japan**

 **Hinata Household**

"Hm… This is weird." Muttered Kururu, which made his platoon mates turn their heads in his direction.

"What?" Giroro and Keroro asked, going up behind him so they could see his computer screen as well. The medical exams hadn't gone well at all (not that it came up as a shock), and any kind of distraction was welcome.

"My radar isn't detecting Lieutenant Garuru's ship." The yellow frog explained, typing something on his keyboard. Keroro shrugged, losing interest.

"Their ship is pretty fast, your thing probably can't detect them anymore."

"They can't travel such a huge distant in such a short amount of time. That's too much, even for them." Giroro said, carefully staring at Kururu's computer. His brother's ship was fast, him being the leader of a Class A platoon, but that was too much ever for the best ship the Keron army had.

"I never said they did." Kururu said, staring quizzically at his screen. At this point, the entire platoon was standing behind him, curious about what was happening. "It just vanished."

They couldn't help but notice that he wasn't using his usual "ku ku ku", a sign that he was actually concerned. If it was with the Garuru Platoon or is equipment, that they didn't know.

… But it was probably the latter.

"Maybe your radar thingy is just going nuts. Wouldn't be the first time one of your inventions turned itself against you." Keroro said without paying much attention to what was happening.

"You think they crashed, Sargent Major?" Tamama asked, eating a chocolate and a lollipop at the same time.

… _At the same time_.

The yellow genius leaned back in his chair, shrugging slightly. "I don't know. But it's likely."

Giroro's widened his eyes, staring at his colleague.

"Do you think this could be-"

"- One of the species of aliens that have been around lately?" Kururu interrupted him, realizing where he was going. He tilted his head to the side, still staring at his computer screen. "Absolutely. Your brother is an S Rank Sniper, and is considered to be one of the best our army has ever had, if not _the_ best. That kind of title comes with a price."

Giroro kept quiet, concern written all over his features. His brother was an amazing soldier, he knew that, but it was like Kururu had said – that kind of title came with a price, and his was too high. He knew that any species of aliens that had suffered because of him would retaliate in the first chance they got, and that was an excellent opportunity. The Corporal knew that even the best soldiers had problems, and that one day they wouldn't be more than simple names spoken by Keronians of future generations… The red frog shuddered at the thought, not wanting to think of his life without his brother. It was one thing not to talk to him, but knowing he was there; another completely different was knowing he was gone for good.

"Obviously, the fact that he is the best Sniper in the army isn't exactly shocking. After all, he took you out with half a dozen of shots, ku ku ku." Said Kururu, returning to his normal state. That might have sounded like a compliment, but his platoon mates knew better than to think that he was complimenting the Corporal. He was obviously mocking him, something that he did _for a living_.

Giroro grunted as soon as he heard him, looking annoyed.

"Stop mentioning that!"

"No. I wish I could've recorded it. It would make an amazing birthday present, ku ku ku~"

Keroro, Dororo and Tamama had to hold the Corporal to prevent him from hurting the Sargent Major.

" _Son of a Frog_ -"

"Of two, actually." Said the yellow frog, typing a few more stuff on his keyboard. A few seconds later he leaned back in his chair, folding his legs over his desk and putting his hands on the back of his head. "Done." He simply stated, his creepy signature grin on his face.

"What?" They all asked, confused. Giroro seemed to chill a bit, curious about Kururu had done.

"An A Class Platoon's ship's security cameras are harder to hack, but nothing that I can't manage. Wanna see it or not?"

They all went up behind him again, be he raised a hand, telling them to back off.

"No need to fuss." He pressed a button and immediately the images were projected into a bigger screen, letting them be in the middle of the room without looking and feeling like canned sausages. Kururu pressed "play" and immediately the recordings of the present day started to play. Nothing out of the ordinary was happening – Taruru and Tororo were having an argument, but stopped as soon as Garuru told them to; Pururu was cleaning her needle; and Zaruru was hanging upside down in the ceiling.

"Move forward to the moment when they go back to the ship after coming here." Suggested Dororo, and Kururu did so. They saw them entering the ship and saluting their leader, except Pururu, who walked towards the leader's office without staring at any of them.

"I didn't realize she was this mad, gero gero." Keroro said, scratching the back of his head. Giroro, rolled his eyes at him.

"Kururu said she was old, idiot."

Kururu kept on watching the recordings without paying much attention to what his teammates were saying. A few seconds later he saw Taruru walking towards one of the quarters, and when the door was opened, Pururu emerged from the other side. They heard Taruru apologizing for his behavior and telling the Nurse how satisfied the Lieutenant was with her job, which made her blush tremendously.

They all stared at Giroro, who started to hit his head against the wall.

"Not." Hit. "This." Hit. "Again." Hit.

His line of thought was, however, cut by the piercing sound of an explosion that came from the screen. They all looked just in time to see Pururu and Taruru hitting the ground, and it didn't take long until the second impact was felt. None of them dared to speak as the two teammates walked towards the main room and as Zoruru told them one of their engines had stopped working, and that the other one wasn't going to last long.

A few seconds later Giroro heard his brother's voice, and as soon as the third impact was felt, he felt his heart tightening in his chest. To make him feel worse, the camera that was in his brother's office stopped working.

Only when he saw him entering the main room with Pururu did Giroro release a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Kururu moved the recordings forward again, stopping when he saw Tororo jumping of the ship.

"Hm." He said, sounding unsurprised. "He told them to jump."

"Which means that he is going to be the last one…" Giroro muttered, and none of this friends dared to tell him otherwise, especially because they knew that it was true. Garuru took the role as a platoon leader much more serious than Keroro ever could, and they knew that he would sacrifice his life without thinking twice if that meant that his teammates would be safe.

After Pururu jumped, they all saw the Lieutenant trying to stabilize the ship, and even though he looked ridiculously calm, Giroro knew he had lost hope a long time ago. After a few seconds of trying to, probably, take the ship to a more discrete place, the purple frog jumped to a place in the room that the cameras couldn't reach.

After that, the recording stopped.

They all stared at the screen without knowing what to think, Giroro wide eyed. He shook his head and sighed, closing his eyes. He looked like he had just lost a battle, the look of defeat on his face.

"Giroro…" Keroro tried, in vain.

"Corporal, your brother is a very intelligent frog, I'm sure he found a way out." Tamama said, forgetting all about his candy as he saw his friend like that. Dororo stood quietly next to Kururu, knowing that nothing they could say would make the red frog feel better.

"At least the others are okay." He finally said, slowly folding his arms. "There's something bugging me. Go back to the moment the third explosion occurred." He ordered, without adverting his gaze from the screen. Kururu wasn't understanding where he was trying to get, but did as he said anyway.

"Here?" He asked once they saw Pururu and Taruru talking to Zoruru in the main room.

"Yes. Put the camera that's recording my brother's office in full screen."

Kururu did so, and as soon as the explosion occurred, Giroro pointed at the screen.

"There, right before the explosion happened! There was a package in his desk, and when Garuru read what was written in it, he immediately knew that it was a trap."

"I can't see what's written in it, the camera's don't reach it." Kururu said. "I can try to see who planted the bomb there, though. I'm pretty sure it happened while they down here." He moved the recording back so it would show the moment they got out of the ship, and seeing that nothing was happening, he moved a bit forward, but stopped the moment he saw what looked like a shadow.

"That's… That's just a shadow." Keroro said. "Maybe it's walking too fast?"

"I don't think so." The yellow frog answered. "But let's see." He clicked "play", and they all saw the shadow… _floating_ at a normal speed.

"What the…" Muttered Giroro, following the shadow until the moment it stopped in front of the Lieutenant's office's door. What happened next let them all awestruck.

" _Did that thing just go through the door like it was a frogging ghost?!_ " Keroro yelled, running to hide behind Tamama. The latter didn't have anything to say about the matter.

"Apparently." Kururu said, looking as shocked as the others, which was incredibly rare. The shadow dropped the package on Garuru's desk and then turned around, floating towards the door. What they saw as it did so nearly made Keroro jump of his skin.

It didn't have a face, nor a body for that matter. All it had was two big, round eyes that shone in contrast to its dark figure. Then the thing looked at the camera and smiled, its "lips'" corners twisting like those clowns' masks they sell on Halloween. It had a terrifying smile, showing, instead of teeth, a white shine just like in its eyes.

It looked like something that came out of a horror movie.

"This isn't creepy or anything…" Tamama muttered, wincing slightly, still staring at the screen.

"Do you think this could be an alien?" Giroro asked, staring at his yellow companion. Keroro, in return, shrugged.

"I have no idea. I never saw anything like this."

Giroro stared at the screen apprehensively, and then turned his head towards Keroro.

"We have to communicate this to the HQ immediately." He said, and the green frog's face suddenly became very pale. Giroro didn't understand why, but Kururu probably knew, because he started laughing.

"Ku ku ku, we can't. Our leader broke the Keroball."

Keroro had taken advantage of the Corporal's distraction to slip out of the room, but once he heard guns being loaded right behind, he knew it was too late. He turned around shaking to see his childhood friend involved in a dark aura, two of his weapons on his hands.

" _You_ broke the Keroball?" He asked calmly and Keroro started running, knowing what was coming.

o – o – o – o – o

 **Aveiro, Portugal**

When Pururu opened her eyes, all she saw was white.

Once her eyes adapted to the light, however, she started to recognize certain shapes and colors. There was a bed in the opposite corner to which she was in, a desk right next to her and a closet, near the bed. She tried to sit, but once she did so she felt an aching pain in her leg, and when she looked down to her body she realized someone had taken care of her wounds.

She heard something move, and only in that moment did she realize that there was someone lying on the bed.

It was a petite girl, with brown hair and eyes, and dark glasses. She quietly got up from her place and sat down next to Pururu, looking as if she didn't know what to do or as if she was a bit frightened. The pink Keronian couldn't blame her.

"Thank you for taking care of my wounds." She said with a soft smile on her lips. That seemed to calm the girl down a bit, since she returned Pururu's smile with one of her own, but still she could see the Pekoponian was extremely nervous.

"Hm… Yeah, you're… You're welcome. It was the least I could do…" The girl said with a soft shrug. Pururu, noticing that the girl wasn't going to say anything more, tried again.

"My name is Pururu." She said, stretching the arm that pained her the less so that the girl could shake her tiny hand. She stared at her briefly, but almost immediately shook her hand, thinking that the alien could feel insulted if she didn't, and she surely didn't want to get in trouble with something that she didn't know.

´"I'm, hm… I'm Inês." She said, stuttering a bit. She then reached her hand to her desk and grabbed something that she then gave to Pururu. It was a glass with, Pururu guessed, water. "You should… drink some water." Then, as if she remembered something, she scratched the back of her head. "You know what water is… right?"

The pink Keronian laughed and grabbed the glass, drinking its content within a few seconds. Inês stared at her in utter bewilderment, but quickly got up and when she sat down again, she had a bottle of water in her hand.

"Here, you can… drink all of it."

"Thank you." Pururu said, taking the bottle from her hands and drinking half of the water inside of it. Once she was satisfied, she stared at the girl with her big violet eyes.

Inês, on the other hand, thought she was absolutely adorable. However, she kept in mind the fact that she was _literally_ from another planet, and didn't want to risk saying the wrong thing.

"Why are you here?"

Pururu, who was staring at some of the photographs the girl had in her room, jumped slightly when she spoke, confusion written all over her face.

"I'm sorry?" She asked, not understanding what she meant.

"Hm, here… Here, on earth. What are you doing here?" Inês took one of her hands to her upper arm, scratching it. She did that when she was nervous, but she couldn't really help it.

"My Platoon and I came here on… a "mission". We were attacked when we were leaving." She spoke in a professional tone, almost as if she was explaining the situation to someone in a higher rank than hers, and Inês felt somewhat intimidated. However, once she completely processed Pururu's words, her eyes went wide.

"Your platoon? Then that means that there are more of… you, and that probably you weren't the only one that… hm, that got injured?" That entire situation was preposterously weird to the brunette girl, and she couldn't help but pause for a while in the middle of her sentences. Nonetheless, for someone who was speaking to an alien, she was doing pretty well.

"Yes. Probably we all got hurt." Then, as if she was remembering something that she shouldn't, her face took on a sad expression. "Some more than others, even."

Inês thought that it would be wiser not to say anything more, seeing how upset she had gotten when the subject of her platoon mates was brought up, so she turned her head towards one of her room's windows.

It was a nice room – she had turned the house's attic, a dark and sad place, into that bright and shiny compartment as soon as her parents told her they were going to turn her room into a playroom. She painted the walls in white, moved her bed, desk and closet to there and with a bit of her parents' help she bought a mirror and a bedside table. She bought these little lights that she put on the wall that was slightly above her bed and that she lights up whenever it gets dark, too.

The attic has two windows, one next to her desk and the other one on the ceiling, right above her bed, and she liked to watch the stars before she fell asleep on summer nights, or watch the rain pour on those cold and dark days of winter.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't even notice the window next to her desk was opened, and that it had started raining. She immediately got up and ran to close the window as soon as she realized, muttering some sarcastic comments as she did saw.

"Come on, man! We're in June…"

"It doesn't usually rain in this time of the year?" Pururu asked, sounding extremely curious, making the girl smile softly as she answered.

"No… June is usually a pretty warm month. Summer's close, after all."

She sat in front of the tiny alien again, wondering if it was now a good time to ask her about her teammates. She was curious but didn't want to be inconvenient, and didn't want to make her feel so sad again.

"Inês?"

She jumped slightly when she heard Pururu call her name, which made her laugh. She started at her apologetically and then spoke again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you… but could you please tell me in which country I am?" She asked politely, and Inês couldn't say no to someone so cute and sweet. She typed something on her phone, and once she found what she was looking for, she turned the screen towards Pururu and pointed at one of the countries that showed up in the map that she searched.

"You're in Portugal… This tiny thing right here, between the sea and Spain." Seeing her confused look, the girl quickly added with a giggle. "Spain is this country right here."

Pururu nodded with a smile, and they soon fell back into a deep silence. Inês, wanting to take the opportunity of being in the company of an alien and feeling the need to help people whenever they were feeling down, ended up asking the question that had been going around her mind for a while now.

"Your teammates… Do you know where they are?"

The effect of that question was the equivalent to the explosion of a grenade. Pururu got very quiet and stared blankly at the wall behind Inês, and she immediately regretted bringing it up. Right when she was thinking Pururu wasn't going to answer her, the pink alien opened her mouth to speak.

"I don't know. We didn't jump of the ship at the same time… I don't even know if they are nearby."

(Let's ignore the fact that they are in a fanfic and that they obviously need to be nearby… Ahem, right. The fourth wall.

Oops~)

"Can you… tell me about them?" Inês asked slowly, carefully choosing her words. "I'm curious about… them. And I want you to meet with them again." She said firmly, and looked the alien in the eyes as she spoke. She sighed and gave her a weak smile, indicating her that she was going to tell her.

"There are five of us." She started, looking up at the girl. "The New Recruit Tororo is a tiny, orange frog and his symbol is a… hm…" She thought for a moment and then made a funny expression, as if she was apologizing. "I don't know what it is, but it's green. He is the youngest but is also the smartest, although that what he has on his brain, lacks on social skills. Sometimes he is a bit… Crude, blunt. But I'm glad he's on our team." The alien smiled, and Inês smiled back at her as to urge her to go on.

"The Private First Class Taruru is the second youngest, and hasn't been on his teens for too long. He's a light blue frog, has freckles and his symbol looks like a drop, and it's yellow and orange. He has a bit of trouble following orders sometimes…"

"Blame it on the hormones." Inês said with a chuckle.

"I'm guessing you're like that sometimes, too." Pururu said, and when the girl didn't answer her, she knew it was true. "But even though he has a bit of a childish behavior, it's a bit hard not to like him. Sure he's annoying… But we all like him a lot."

"The Lance Corporal Zoruru is… singular, definitely. He's half robot, half frog… His organic side is grey, and his symbol is some kind of red three-pointed star. He's an assassin, and a very good one at that. He's very competent, of course, but we tend to… forget him. He's very good at going unnoticed." She smiled awkwardly, looking embarrassed. Inês giggled a bit, but continued to pay attention to her. If they were in fact five, Pururu had to talk about one more.

"And then, there's the Lieutenant Garuru…" She started but suddenly stopped, as if she had gotten sad all of a sudden. "He's purple, and his symbol is a wolf's face… At least it looks like it. We all compare him to a wolf without him knowing, too." She giggled, but almost immediately continued. "He's our leader, and is considered to be the best Sniper our army has, and one of the best it _ever_ had. We all feel extremely safe when we're around him. He and Taruru tend to fight quite a lot because of those "following orders" problems I told you about, but he doesn't hesitate in putting his life at risk if that means that _all of us_ will be safe. He's a good leader." She said, and Inês could see her… blush? Yes, she was sure Pururu was blushing, and she surely knew why. "And he's very brave, too."

"Awwwwwwwww!" Inês yelled, clasping her hands together and getting extremely excited all of a sudden. "You like him!" she stared dreamily at her window, putting both of her hands on her cheeks. "A commander and his subordinate, how romantic…!"

Pururu's face got even redder, if that was even possible. "N-No! N-No, it's nothing like that…"

Inês shook her head lively, and took her index finger to her lips. "You don't need to lie! Your secret is safe with me!"

Well, you gotta love romance for making the friendship between a human and an alien possible.

Shippers…

Inês winked at Pururu, and even though she was still extremely red, that little gesture made her feel much better.

The girl unlocked her phone, and once she saw the time, she got up. She helped Pururu doing the same. "Can you eat the same food as us?" When the little alien nodded, Inês gave her a soft smile.

"Then let's go. Graça is probably almost done making lunch." When she saw the uncomfortable expression Pururu was wearing, Inês smiled. "Graça is our domestic maid. She is the one who takes care of me, since my parents are always away on business trips… She was also the one who found you and brought you to our home." Inês smiled down at her again. "She's a huge UFO geek. I'm sure she's gonna be super excited when she finds out you woke up."

o - o - o - o - o

 **here's the second one. I hope you enjoy it!**


	3. Lost

Taruru didn't like being lost.

Not because it meant that he didn't know his way home, but because it reminded him of all those years spent in orphanages before he joined the platoon. It reminded him when the other kids at school laughed at him and said that he only wasn't with his parents right now because they didn't like him, or when the people who took care of them punished him for eating too many candies when they knew they had to tell him to stop. Being lost reminded if of those years. Alone. Completely lost.

He sighed and sat down on the concrete street, his back resting against a house's wall. He was exhausted, his legs hurt, his injuries burned, and he could feel his chest heavy because of the guilt that he felt. His argument with the Lieutenant kept going in replay on his mind, and every time he remembered his last words to him, he felt a shiver run through his spine. He knew that those had probably been the last words he _ever_ said to his superior, and that thought couldn't make him feel worse.

The rain kept pouring down, and the light blue frog looked around to see if there were any signs of Pekoponian activity. It was a calm and nice street, with houses on both sides of it and a few trees in the middle, and because of the rain, there was fortunately no one out there. The frog closed his eyes and fell asleep almost immediately, and even though he finally was able to relax, he still had a nightmare.

o – o – o – o – o

He woke with something poking his tummy.

When his eyes adjusted to the light (or lack thereof, since it was still raining), he was able to see a girl with short brown hair and dark eyes right in front of him, who was staring at him with evident curiosity. He was expecting her to run away once he moved, but she didn't.

She did, however, keep poking him with her index finger, this time on his cheek. He blinked a few times not knowing what to do, and he seriously considered asking her to stop touching him. He didn't get the time, though.

"You're so cute!" The girl squealed, grinning from ear to ear. Taruru, momentarily forgetting all about his injuries and about the fact that he should _probably be looking for his teammates,_ smiled and scratched the back of his head, pouting his lips as he did so.

"Eh eh eh, I know, I know."

Did you seriously think this could get depressing with Taruru involved?

"And you can _talk_!" Continued the girl, looking more and more excited. "And _my_ language! How did you... Oh." She stopped talking once she saw his injuries. "You're hurt."

Hearing his cuts and bruises being mentioned, Taruru unconsciously looked down, shrugging slightly.

"Yeah… Didn't even notice how bad they looked." He scratched the back of his head, looking around. "Just when I needed Pururu…"

"Who's Pururu?" The girl asked, showing that she was still paying attention to him. "Wait, you'll tell me inside. My parents aren't home and my brother is staying at a friend's, so I guess we're good. I'm not gonna leave such a cute alien like you here in the cold, especially not with you injured." She said once the pressure on the umbrella from the rain was becoming a bit too much. (Taruru had wondered how it had stopped raining all of a sudden… The umbrella actually explained it.)

The blue frog looked gratefully at her. They both started walking towards her house, but once the girl opened the gate, she stopped.

"My dogs are out here. It's better if I hold you for a bit…"

Taruru nodded and the girl grabbed him with her arm, using the other to open the main door once they walked past her front garden. She let him go as soon as they entered her place, and Taruru looked around, dumbfound.

"Your place is _super_ cool!" He said, jumping to the couch and looking around. "You got any food?"

She chuckled and put away the umbrella, motioning him to follow her into the kitchen.

"You're going to be a problem, aren't ya?"

"People usually say so, yeah."

The girl laughed again, grabbing a packet of biscuits. Taruru stretched his arms to try and get it, but she put it on top of the balcony where he couldn't reach it.

"Let's play a game." She said. "I'll ask you questions, and for each one that you answer, I'll give you a cookie."

The blue frog shrugged, only caring about the cookies. "Fine. But hurry up, I'm hungry!"

She laughed again, but stopped once she remembered his injuries. "Wait. We gotta take care of you first." She starting walking towards the bathroom, and after one or two grunts, Taruru ended up following her.

"Sit." She told him, grabbing Band-Aids, cotton, and a bottle with hydrogen peroxide. After he did what she told him to she sat in front of him. However, she looked at him as if she had just remembered something, got up and left the room. Taruru couldn't be more confused, but when she got back with the packet of biscuits in her hand, he finally understood.

"This way you'll have something else to think about if any of your injuries hurt a bit too much." She opened the packet and grabbed a bit of cotton, staring at Taruru. "Can we start?"

He nodded lively, but then remembered something and stopped.

"Wait! What if I also want to ask you something?"

She shrugged.

"You ask and I'll answer."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

He nodded with a smile on his freckled face, and she smiled back at him.

"Can I start?"

"Shoot." He said, but his face took on a sad expression almost immediately. He looked down at his feet, place where the girl was taking care of his wounds at the moment, and even though she was curious about what made his mood change so quickly, she knew better than to ask.

"What's your name?"

"Taruru."

He grabbed a cookie, and asked her the same question. The girl grabbed a Band-Aid and put it on two cuts, one right next to the other.

"Inês." She said, grabbing a bit of cotton and wetting it with hydrogen peroxide. "Inês Miranda."

He looked as if he was thinking about something, and then looked at her.

"Can I just call you Miranda?"

She laughed at the question, but shrugged. "If you like it, sure."

He nodded and the girl asked him the next question.

"Where are you from?"

"Keron." He grabbed another cookie, and she looked at him with surprise in her eyes. She had never heard the name of a planet out of the Solar System… Coming from an alien's mouth, at least.

"In which country am I?"

"Portugal."

She asked the next question.

"How did you end up here?"

If she knew Taruru, she would've _known_ that he wasn't behaving like he usually does. However, she didn't, and all she had on her hands was her talent of reading people, even if Taruru wasn't exactly a person.

"It's a long story." He muttered after a while, but she just half smiled at him.

"We've got time."

o – o – o – o – o

"Taruru… I'm so sorry. I'm sure they're fine." Miranda said, sitting on her bed with her laptop in her lap. She had finally finished cleaning and "Band-aiding" every wound that the light blue frog had, and so they decided that it would be better if they continued their conversation in her room. It was much cozier, and she didn't want to risk her parents and brother coming home before they should and finding out that she was helping an alien.

Taruru was eating the last cookie that there was in the packet, but this time, not even eating was making him feel better. He knew that his teammates were intelligent and brave frogs, but the Lieutenant… He was a fantastic leader, soldier and mentor, but he didn't know if he had gotten out of the ship. His chest tightened as he thought that his last words to his superior were lies, and worse of all, that he might've believed them.

"Hey."

He looked at Miranda, and she smiled down at him.

"I'm sure he's fine. You said it yourself, he's a tough guy. I'm sure Garuru found a way out of the ship."

He sighed and looked around her room, and his expression quickly changed to a curious one once he saw the photos that she had in there.

"Who are those?"

She looked at where he was pointing and answered.

"A band. One Direction."

He looked as if he were confused, so she quickly explained him.

"They're from another country. They… don't speak Portuguese. So their name is in their language."

The alien nodded, looking pleased.

Miranda knew that Taruru was young. He had probably been on his teens for an extremely short amount of time, and she knew that he wasn't on his best at the moment. She hoped that they could find his teammates, or at least could find out what happened to them so that the blue frog could finally return to his normal state.

When she got back to reality, Taruru's face was right in front of hers. She nearly dropped her laptop as she jumped slightly on the bed.

"Show me one of their songs!"

 _He's probably going back to normal._

She nodded and put the laptop on her bed, motioning him to sit next to her. She went on YouTube and typed "Drag Me Down" on the search bar, and immediately a bunch of results popped up. She clicked the first one and waited for the video to start, and once it did, Taruru got extremely excited.

"This one has cool hair." He said, pointing at one of the boys. Miranda nodded, silently agreeing with him.

"It's better than yours."

Again, she couldn't disagree with him.

"They're sending them to _space_!" Taruru looked like Christmas had come earlier, and Miranda fought the urge to tell him that none of that was real.

"They should've left them there." She muttered, but it was loud enough for Taruru to hear. He looked at her and put his hands on his hips, pouting his lips as he looked at her with suspicion.

"You don't seem to like them that much."

The girl looked at him like he was insane.

"Oh no, I'm really far up their butts."

The song ended, and Taruru nodded his head appreciatively.

"I really like this song. It has a really cool meaning."

She half smiled at him, but then furrowed her brows in a confused expression.

"But… You don't understand English."

"I don't."

 _I surely can't say my life is going to be boring with him around._


	4. Batman and Robin

Zoruru woke up, feeling something poking his tummy.

He was able to move his head just in time to see that it was a stick, but it was quickly pulled back just as the person who was holding it saw the alien moving. Zoruru _knew_ that it was a person holding it – he could hear their heavy breaths, and he heard them stepping on a loose branch -, so it didn't take him more than just a couple of seconds to compose himself and to press his scythe to his victim's neck, who immediately took a few steps back before his back hit a wall, something that Zoruru really appreciated.

"Dude, _what the hell_!" He heard de human say, which made him press his scythe even closer to his neck. "I literally saved your life!"

"You poked me with a _stick_." Zoruru growled, spitting the last word as if the mere thought of someone doing such an undignified thing to him made him want to throw up. He paid close attention to the kid, thinking about how chopping his head off would be much easier than going through the torture of listening to him whining. However, the boy – at least he thought he was a boy – took on an irritated expression and pointed at his own neck, looking more than a bit panicked.

"You have a _freaking_ scythe!" He yelled. "This is exactly the type of thing that I was trying to avoid!"

"Watch your tone." Zoruru spoke again. "It would be extremely easy for me to just separate your head from the rest of your body."

The grey alien could, despite the fact that it was dark, see the human's expression change to one of slight amusement. Zoruru was trained not to show any kind of emotion, but he would be lying if he said that he didn't feel slightly confused in that moment. He just threatened to kill the kid, and he was acting as if that was the funniest thing he had heard all day.

"I'm not saying it wouldn't." He spoke, still with a slight smile on his lips. "But if you haven't done it yet, I don't believe you will."

Zoruru thought about what he had just said for a few seconds, and ended up admitting that he was right. He didn't tell him that, however, so he just lowered his arm as he mentally complained about how dry the weather was as he felt an uncomfortable sensation on his skin.

"You're an alien, right?" The boy asked after a few seconds, probably getting tired of the awkward silence that fell upon them. Zoruru thought for a few moments before answering to him – who did he think he was to address him like that? He certainly wouldn't act like that if the Lieutenant…

 _The Lieutenant._

A wave of sadness ran through him as he remembered his superior. Zoruru wasn't the type of frog that felt sad, or even the type that felt anything at all. War casualties happened all the time, but with the Lieutenant, it was different. The fact that he was actually concerned about the purple frog was the biggest proof of his loyalty and respect towards him, and even though he knew that Garuru was a tough nut to crack, he also knew that the chances of finding his superior alive were very little.

"Um, dude?" The boy's annoying voice was heard again, making Zoruru let out a discontent noise. He was still extremely disgruntled about the fact that the boy didn't seem to feel slightly intimidated by him, and if he noticed his displeasure about that fact, he didn't show it. "Are you an alien?"

"What do you think?!" He snapped, folding his arms over his chest and raising his head so he could look the boy in the eye. He didn't seem to be very tall, and had tan skin and dark eyes and hair. The kid rolled his eyes and him and shrugged, probably done with his attitude.

"Well, _I'm sorry,_ Mr. Grumpy-Pants." He said sarcastically. "Goddamn the hour mom told me to wait for you to wake up…" He murmured the last part, but it was still loud enough for Zoruru to hear. He decided that it was easier not to say anything since that, if he was being honest, he was too tired to do anything.

"My name's Vicente." The boy said, and after that he turned his back to the alien and started walking away without saying anything else.

"Where do you think you're going?" The frog growled, but the kid just shrugged one more time.

"It doesn't look like you want my help, and even if you did… Well, your attitude sort of ruins it for you." The boy smiled at him and then turned around once again, waving. "See 'ya!"

Zoruru stood motionless for a few seconds, not knowing what to do. He didn't want to ask a human for help, but he wouldn't be able to make it on his own, either… He muttered something under his breath and closed his eyes momentarily, trying to prepare himself for what he was going to do next.

"Wait." He said lowly, but he knew that… _Vicente_ had heard him. The boy fought the urge to smile and turned around, looking at the alien as if he was extremely uninterested in the conversation. Zoruru mumbled something that he kid couldn't get, and the frog, seeing his furrowed brow, forced himself to repeat what he said. "… I need your help."

Vicente smiled brightly and stared down at the frog, looking amused with the situation. "Was that as painful to say as I think it was, or nah?"

Zoruru rolled his eyes, mentally slapping himself for thinking for even a second that this was a good idea. He was hoping he'd find his platoon mates fast, since he didn't want to spend more time with this annoying human kid than the one that was absolutely necessary.

"Like I said before, I'm Vicente." The boy tried again, but the only thing he got was a glare from the space frog.

"Yes. So?"

Vicente stared at him like he was an idiot before face-palming. "Don't they teach you good ways, wherever the heck you're from? You're supposed to tell me your name! Geez…!" He stared at the alien again, who in turn seemed to be considering chopping his head off for the tenth time in five minutes. "Unless you want me to refer to you as "the ugly and grumpy alien that landed on my backyard.". 'Mom, the ugly and grumpy alien that landed on our backyard is trying to kill me for the fortieth time!'. Does that sound good to you?"

 _Of all the places where I could've fallen, it had to be on this idiot's backyard._

"Zoruru." The frog ended up saying, making the boy's eyes widen slightly. You didn't have to be a body language expert to know that Vicente wasn't expecting it to be that easy to convince him to collaborate.

"Um… Cool. Yeah… Nice name." He scratched the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. "So… my mom asked me to wait for you to wake up and to take you inside after that, so we should do that… um… yeah, yeah… that's probably a good idea."

 _He's starting to understand an alien's right in front of him._ Zoruru realized with satisfaction.

Little did he know, the boy was just surprised that he hadn't threatened to chop is head off. _Again_.

Vicente started walking without saying a word, and the gray frog, not seeing any other options, followed him. Once they entered his house Zoruru was able to see a small woman with dark hair whose expression was very similar to the boy's, and when she saw him her whole face lit up.

"This is Zoruru and he is just like dad when he wakes up early." Vicente told her, which made her happy expression turn into one of confusion. "Except that he is like that all the time."

"Careful." The frog threatened, which made the boy roll his eyes one more time.

"He also has the cute habit of threatening to chop your head off every five minutes."

The woman sighed and started walking towards Zoruru, which made him look at her suspiciously. "Pardon my son, he can be extremely annoying when he wants to."

"Hey!"

"Is that all the time?" Zoruru muttered, which made the woman laugh.

"I can hear both of you!"

"He's not that bad." Vicente's mother said, ignoring her son. "Now, why don't you start by telling us why you're here?"

Zoruru raised the arm that had the scythe and stared threateningly at the woman, who didn't look slightly frightened in return. "Why would I do that?"

"Because this is the only condition that I inflict to let you stay with us. You're a frog – you won't last two days outside if you don't have any kind of water supply."

It was like one of those simulations they did back in military school, where the enemy made them an irrefutable offer in order to get information about their platoon and teammates, except that this time, Zoruru didn't really have a choice. He couldn't contact none of his platoon mates, and he doubted his superior was even alive. He had to find a way to survive, and in that moment, that woman and her son were his best option.

"Fine." He muttered, making the woman smile as the boy pushed a chair and sat in it.

"Story time."

o – o – o – o – o

The two humans kept quiet even after Zoruru told them what happened, which made him feel extremely annoyed. Vicente's mother had to leave the room to take a phone call, but not without sending Zoruru a pitiful look, one that he absolutely despised.

"I-" Vicente began, but was quickly cut off by the frog.

"Don't. I don't need your pity." He spat, but the boy just shrugged.

"I don't pity you. I was just gonna say that Garuru… He sounds like a really great guy." He said, which made the frog's head snap in his direction. Vicente's eyes were sincere and had a little spark in them that conveyed confidence, and Zoruru found himself agreeing with him.

"Yes, he was."

"Why're you so sure he's dead?" He asked, which made Zoruru glare at him angrily.

"Did you pay any attention to what I said? The ship _exploded_!"

"So what? He's a sniper, a great soldier and strategist, and above all of that, he's a very intelligent guy, according to what you told me and mom. I'm sure he found a way out. But you" He said, standing up and putting the chair back to its place. "You gotta be a bit more optimistic. And above all of that, you have to think that even if your superior is gone, you still have to find your other teammates. The girl… Pururu, right? You said she jumped last. I'm sure that if we find her, we'll be able to learn more."

"If _we_ find her?" Zoruru asked, a bit taken aback by what the boy just said. He thought he was an air-head when they first met, but… maybe, _just maybe,_ he wasn't as bad as he thought. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that, Lance Corporal Zoruru, I'm gonna help you find your platoon mates." The boy said, resting his back against a table and looking down, straight into the frog's robotic eye. Then, as if he was remembering something funny, his face took on an amused expression. "We're gonna be like Batman and Robin."

Zoruru started at him as if he was insane. "Who?"

Vicente looked at him for a long moment before shaking his head and starting to walk towards the room's door. "Nevermind."


	5. Broken Glasses and a Laptop

_Please don't let my glasses break, please don't let my glasses break, pleas-_

Tororo's prayers were interrupted when his feet hit the roof of that building violently, making him lose balance and fall with his face on the floor. He quickly got rid of his parachute, which in turn hit a fan slightly more violently than it should, making a loud noise that the entire neighborhood probably heard. Tororo didn't care, though.

"Yes!" He yelled, raising his closed fist to the sky in a victory-like way.

His glasses cracked the moment he spoke.

"No!" He yelled, this time with his hand wide open, as if he was trying to reach the sky like in a movie.

What a Drama Queen.

He sighed exasperatedly and pulled out of literally _nowhere_ another pair of glasses in perfectly good state, switching the cracked ones for the new ones. Once he realized he could see the world clearly again he looked around, trying to find something, _anything_ about the whereabouts of his ship and his platoon mates.

Unfortunately, all the he saw was buildings, trees, and a sky full of extremely angry gray clouds.

He felt his heart tighten on his chest when he thought about his colleagues, and found himself missing even Taruru. He didn't know how he was going to make it without them – after all, he was just a kid. A very smart one, but nevertheless, a kid.

He focused his thoughts on the tracking devices that he had made and that every one of them had, and realized that his was in perfect state. He didn't know about his friends, but at least he had a small chance of finding them. That was something.

He tried to ignore the little voice on his head that kept saying ' _You don't even know if they're alive'_.

His line of thought was, however, cut short when he heard what the deduced was the door that lead to the roof being opened.

He abruptly turned around, his eyes growing wide behind his glasses as he looked at the Pekoponian girl that was now in front of him, her big and shiny brown eyes just as wide as his.

"I, hm… Bia? Yeah, I'll… I'll call you later. I think… I think there's an alien on my roof." She spoke to the device on her hand, ending the call and then shoving it into her back pocket (almost missing because of her shaky hands.), without never taking her eyes of the little orange tadpole.

Only in that moment did he realize that she could see him.

They didn't speak for what seemed like hours, but couldn't have been more than just a few seconds, until the girl finally opened her mouth to speak.

"Do you… wanna come inside?"

Tororo wondered how she knew he could speak her language, but assumed it had only been a lucky guess. He faintly nodded his head and walked towards her, but then his eyes fell on the fallen parachute lying on the floor. The girl looked at it as well, scratching the back of her head.

"We… we should probably take that with us."

"Probably."

o – o – o – o – o

Bruna, that was the girl's name, was seventeen years old, had an older brother that was in college (whatever that is), her parents worked in a factory, had a cat and _never shut up_. Physically she was average sized, skinny, had straight brown hair, large and shiny brown eyes and she also had freckles on her cheeks and nose, reminding Tororo of his light blue colleague.

Now that the initial chock was gone and that he was finally calmer after nearly having a panic attack when he realized he didn't know where his platoon was, the New Recruit was starting to get extremely annoyed with his situation and with the conversation that the girl was trying to start. She had promised him she wouldn't tell anyone about him and to give him shelter as long as he talked to her and didn't ignore her.

What was he thinking when he accepted that deal?

"… And this is Octavia, Bellamy's sister and my favorite." She finished, staring at the tadpole with her eyes shining even more than usual. She was talking about some TV show – _The 100_ , or something. The girl _loved_ TV shows.

"Hm. Whatever." He said with an uninterested shrug, looking at her laptop on the other side of the room. Oh, how he missed his laptop… Sargent Major Kururu would probably think that he had just given up on their games and would never let him hear the end of it.

That made him feel anxious.

A long sigh coming from Bruna made him "wake up" and stare at her. She looked just as bored as him – but why? She was the one who hadn't stopped talking.

"Where do you come from?" She asked, out of the blue.

Her question caught him a bit off guard.

"Why do you wanna know?"

"I didn't want to ask, since you told me you were involved in a crash and didn't know where your teammates were and stuff." She said with a light shrug. "So I just assumed you didn't want to talk about it. But I noticed that my attempts to start a conversation were boring you to death, so maybe it wouldn't be too bad for you to start talking. After all, you're going to be here… For a while, I guess."

Tororo thought about this for a few seconds, but ended up admitting that she was right. "Keron, pu pu."

It was the first time that Bruna heard him use his iconic "pu pu", raising her eyebrow at the situation. She didn't, however, say anything on the matter.

"Keron." She muttered, almost as if she was trying to see what that foreign word felt like when coming out of her mouth. "And how did you end up here?"

Tororo shook his head, focusing his attention of his tracking device. "Pu pu pu. You Pekoponians are too curious for your own good."

"Us… Pokemons?"

He let out an exasperated sigh. "Pekoponians. Geez, this is just like talking to Taruru."

"Who's Taruru?"

Tororo fought the urge to roll his eyes.

o – o – o – o – o

All that there was in the room after Tororo finished his story was an awkward silece. Bruna played with her earrings uncomfortably, feeling guilty for bringing the issue of his (platoon, as she discovered) friends up.

Tororo was just a kid. She, a seventeen year old girl, couldn't even begin to imagine how she would feel if she had to move away from that little down and leave behind all of her friends, some whom she has known for all of her life, and go back to square one. So she certainly didn't know how she would feel if she ever lost her friends, her brother, and the person that she saw as a paternal figure.

Because that's what she concluded. Tororo saw Garuru as some kind of… father? Probably more like an older brother. Or maybe he saw him as one of those teachers that we don't even consider to be teachers because they are so cool and understand us so well. Perhaps all of this was only because the Lieutenant was someone extremely fulfilled workwise, but Tororo definitely saw his as some kind of role model.

Not knowing if he was even alive was probably breaking him into pieces.

"I…" She started fearfully, now knowing what to say. "I wish I could tell you they're fine, Tororo… but I don't know. I really don't."

He shrugged and stared at his feet, trying to avoid eye contact with her.

"But… not knowing means that there is a 50% chance that they are, indeed, fine. If they're alive, do you have any was of contacting them?"

The orange tadpole looked at her, raising his arm so she could see the tracking device on his wrist.

"Well, assuming that theirs aren't broken… We have a chance, even if small, of finding them. And that, let me tell you, is already a good start."

Tororo stared at the girl in front of him, who in turn was smiling slightly at him. She was saying – if he was understanding her correctly – that she wanted to help him find his platoon, his family. He didn't know how to thank people; but he certainly hoped that she could see how grateful he was.

"I'm on holidays, so tomorrow – alright, _fine_ , I need to study for my exams, but… anyway, it's raining, so I can't really go to the beach with my friends. So we could go out and see if we can find any kind of lead. What do you say?"

Tororo's only reaction was nodding his head lively, making Bruna let out a small chuckle. She looked at her desk, where her laptop was, and after a light shrug of her shoulders she got up put it right in front of the tadpole.

It was a little too big for him, he couldn't deny it… But the tadpole didn't seem to mind, staring at her in disbelief.

"I saw you eyeing it earlier. Just don't get any virus in there, alright?"

"Pu pu pu." Said the frog, turning the device on. "I don't make promises."

Bruna laughed, but her face took on a serious expression once she realized the frog didn't look like he was joking.

"Tororo. I'm serious."

…

… I don't think I have to say that by the end of the day, the laptop had already exploded.


	6. A Frog and a Teddy

Alexandre _hated_ to have football practice in the summer.

Not because he'd rather be at the beach or in a bar eating an ice cream with his friends, but because it was too hot to do whatever it was without a having a fan connected to the maximum or without drinking water every five minutes.

Therefore, he couldn't have been more pleased when he received a message from his coach saying that there would be no practice in that day due to some personal issues. Unfortunately the weather was not the best, but he could always stay at home watching series and dawdling, as one is supposed to do during the summer break.

However, his mom had other plans.

Apparently, and since that it wasn't raining anymore, he had to go for a walk with his brother. The eight-year-old kid kept running from one side to the other, completely electric - and despite understanding his mom's side, he didn't want to go for a walk with his younger brother pretty much pegged on his back.

That was the summer that preceded the twelfth year, and he intended to make the best out of it. It would be the last summer that he would have before having to start worrying about real problems related to his future, and the fact that it had been raining for at least an entire week already and the moment it stopped he had to go for a walk with his younger brother wasn't really helping his plan of making that the best summer ever.

However, and realizing that he really didn't have any other option, he eventually agreed and left the house, putting the house keys and mobile phone in the back pocket of the white shorts that he was wearing. His brother, Gonçalo, walked behind him with a smile from ear to ear, looking delighted about the fact that he was going for a walk with his big brother.

Although the kid could be a huge headache when he wanted to, the younger brother was the best thing that had happened to Alexander. He could be having the worst day ever, and the kid always found a way of making it much more bearable. He had a hard time understanding those sibling who just didn't get along - but each relationship was different, he deduced.

"Alex, Alex!" Gonçalo called out, running to keep up with his older brother. "Can we go to the house in the woods?"

The house in the woods, as it had been named by the younger boy, was a small house of old wood and that looked as if it would fall down any second now. It was found by Alexandre and Marco, a friend from school and his neighbor, and since the boy mentioned it about three weeks ago at the dinner table his brother wouldn't stop nagging him to take him there. Truth was that the older boy didn't want to do so, though he didn't know if it was because he wanted to keep the house as his and Marco's secret, or because he thought that the house was a little _too_ scary for his brother. The landscape inside the house was a pretty spooky, and he was sure the kid would have nightmares for days.

"No, Gonçalo." He ended up answering with a sigh. "We can go to the woods, but we're not going to the house."

Gonçalo insisted for a few more minutes (actually threatening to replace Alexandre by Marco) until he, realizing that the older brother wasn't going to give in, eventually gave up.

For a few minutes the two boys didn't hear a thing except for the sound of their footsteps and the hot wind blowing against the trees. Alexandre couldn't say that it was awkward, but seeing that it wasn't very nice either, he was relieved to see the big trees that signified the beginning of the woods.

After warning Gonçalo they wouldn't spend much time there since the rain was threatening to start pouring once again, and after the boy shrugged in response, he sighed and started walking down the path that existed there, looking back every five seconds to make sure that his brother was following him.

"Gonçalo." He ended up calling, making them both stop. He reached for the boy, who in turn was looking at his brother as if he had grown a second head. "Give me your hand." Alexandre clarified and the boy consented, probably not wanting to take the risk of getting lost among all those trees.

They went their way, and this time the younger man decided to tell his brother all the adventures of his last basketball practice. Initially Alexandre was listening – he always listened to what his baby brother said, even if it was the most boring or ridiculous thing in the world - but when his eyes fell on what looked like a purple teddy with strangely realistic wounds, Gonçalo's voice became fainter and fainter. After a while, he realized that Alex was no longer listening, and he opened his mouth to comment on it. However, his brother's finger on his lips prevented him from doing so.

The older boy didn't know exactly what had led him into signaling his brother to be quiet. It was just a teddy, it's not as if it could listen to-

"It's breathing!" Exclaimed the kid, wanting to escape his brother's grasp to look more closely at the mysterious thing. Alexandre was strong, though – he found himself thanking all the football practice he has had ever since he was a kid - and grabbed him without hurting him but firmly, returning him to face him.

"We don't know what this thing is. I want you to stay next to this tree," He pointed to the tree that was closer to the 'Teddy', turning his attention back to him "If I need your help, I'll call you. Deal?"

Gonçalo nodded affirmatively, being able to see the… thing from where he was standing. Alexandre, on the other hand, was increasingly convinced that that was a _living_ organism, and it took everything in him not to think of the word _alien_. He squatted next to the... purple thing, watching it carefully for a few moments.

It had seen better days for sure, but seemed to be alive (at least it was breathing). Alex looked around for a stick and when he found one he pocked the purple frog (?) with it. He did not move, so he figured it was unconscious.

That thing, whatever it was, was seriously injured and he wouldn't feel good with himself by letting it stay there to die. Remembering that had put a coat over his shirt, he took it off and wrapped the being with it, holding it as if he was holding a baby.

 _Why am I acting as if this were normal? I'm holding an alien!_

"We're taking him with us?" Asked Gonçalo quietly, silently walking to his brother. Alexandre nodded affirmatively and signaled the kid to go ahead, which he did willingly.

Of course that when he saw the opportunity to make a million questions, he took it.

"Can I name it?"

"I'm pretty sure it already has a name, Gonçalo."

"And play with it? Can I play with it?"

"It is unconscious and badly injured. I doubt it'll want to play with you. "

"Can I sleep with it? I've wanted one ever since I lost mine!"

Alexandre opened his mouth to answer him, but a sound coming from the alien made both boys stop dead in their tracks. The animal began to move gently in Alexandre's coat, murmuring a word that didn't make any sense for the humans.

"Giroro... Giroro..." it said, and the older boy deduced that it was having a dream. _A nightmare_ , he corrected himself, seeing the way it moved within his arm. He could see that his brother looked somewhat frightened, finally realizing that it was not a teddy, and he thought it best to tell him something about it before he went running to their mom to tell them they had found a thing that came from another planet

Perhaps that's what he should do, but he really didn't feel like it.

"Gonçalo." He called, using that voice that older siblings use that leaves no room for discussion. "It's hurt, so we'll take it to my room and we'll take care of its wounds, alright? Don't tell anything to mom and dad until I say so. Promise me. "

The younger boy nodded, looking at the purple creature with a worried look. He seemed to understand that it wouldn't do anything to him, at least not while it was unconscious

"Will it be alright?"

Alexandre decided not to answer, holding the alien with one arm and stroking his brother's head with his free hand.


End file.
